SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Black Friday? No. Cyber Monday? Nope. Prime Day? Absolutely not. The world’s biggest shopping event happens in China each year – and is called Singles’ Day.
Originally a holiday to celebrate being single, as a counter to Valentine’s Day, the event has grown into a weeks-long online shopping festival that this year began on October 9 and runs through November 11 – making it the longest Singles’ Day sales period ever.
WHEN DID THE IDEA OF SINGLES’ DAY ORIGINATE?
The idea for Singles’ Day originated at China’s Nanjing University back in 1993 and was originally called “Bachelor’s Day.” On the day, single people treat themselves with gifts and presents, while also organising social gatherings and parties.
HOW MUCH DO CONSUMERS SPEND?
Last year, the total value of goods sold during the shopping bonanza – also known as “Double 11” – totaled 1.44 trillion yuan ($202 billion), according to data provider Syntun.
That is almost five times the $41.1 billion U.S. shoppers spent last year during Cyber Week, the period from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, per data from Adobe Analytics.
Cyber Monday immediately follows Black Friday, which falls on the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday, the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States.
But growth has been harder to come by for major e-commerce players in China, which have extended their Singles’ Day sales period and leaned heavily on subsidies and coupons to entice spending. Last year’s sales growth rate of 27% was largely attributed to a longer overall festival period.
This year Alibaba Group pledged 50 billion yuan in subsidies for its 88VIP members over the Singles’ Day period.
The event has, in recent years, lost some of its novelty with the rise of other shopping festivals in China, including the midyear “618” sales which is the country’s second-largest, and has also lengthened to a weeks-long event.
WHAT MAJOR BRANDS AND PRODUCTS ARE SHOPPERS BUYING?
While Alibaba started “Double 11” in 2009 to win over online shoppers with discounts and promotions, China’s major e-commerce platforms now all take part in it.
JD.com joined in 2012 and PDD Holdings-owned Pinduoduo has also become a significant player, offering low-cost products in competition with Alibaba-owned Tmall and Taobao platforms.
Last year, categories covered by a national 150 billion yuan household-appliance-subsidy scheme outperformed. With a higher comparison base this year, those categories are expected to decline. Nomura analysts forecast in October that home appliance sales will fall 20% in the fourth quarter in China.
Instant retail – one-hour delivery of online orders – is also a focus this year. Alibaba and JD.com have poured billions into subsidies throughout 2025 to attract shoppers to rapid-delivery channels, which have been growing faster than e-commerce overall.
WHICH OTHER COMPANIES HOPE TO BENEFIT?
Many global companies, from apparel maker Nike to cosmetics firm Estee Lauder and consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble, have a big presence on Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Tmall and JD.com.
Aggressive discounting has been a hallmark of Chinese shopping festivals since pandemic restrictions ended in China in late 2022, though consumption overall has remained sluggish as people save more in the face of macroeconomic challenges and a prolonged property crisis.
According to Alibaba, 35 brands, including Nike, L’Oreal and local firms Anta and Proya, sold more than 100 million yuan of merchandise in the first hour of the sale this year.
At a press conference a few days into its Singles’ Day sales period, JD.com said it would list over 100,000 “hit” products at its lowest prices of the year and sell 50,000 pairs of thermal Long Johns at 2 yuan each, shipping included.
Phone sales are expected to be strong this year, given recent launches of Apple’s iPhone 17 series and Xiaomi’s 17 series in September.
Within the first two hours, sales of iPhone on Apple’s Tmall store exceeded the full-day total for the same period last year, according to Alibaba, which did not disclose specific figures.
($1 = 7.1230 yuan)
(Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by Sam Holmes and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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